Kate P.
I learned a lot from these interviews. The one that shocked me the most was Chris Thorsten http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/thorsten.html. He said that "you ain't an iron worker unless you get killed." His bleak honesty was really sad. I felt that really represented the mood of that time period. Everything was dangerous. Things were really corrupt then, too. According to Anna Novak, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/anna.html, all the workers were expected to bring in presents for the people in charge every holiday if they wanted to keep their jobs. Bosses also hated unionizing and did everything they could to stop it, says Ivring Fajans http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/irving.html.The Great Depression was a horrible time to live in.
These interveiws brought you back in time to a world much alien to the 21st century. The people who were interveiwed spoke of corrupt factory owners, and no safety devices. These people's life stories would never occur today because of the laws created because of pioneers like Irving Fajans who supported the union group for Macy's and helped to recruit members under the radar of his bosses http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/irving.html . Even though the unions helped many workers get their rights they would not help Jim Cole who was African American. The unions did as much good as they did bad, by not accepting other races http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/jimcole.html . I was happy to read the excerpt from Man at Colonial park. He stated that even though rich men had all of the money it didn't effect that everyone shared the same air, earth, and sky. The man understood that they were rich but that did not mean that they were gods http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/manpark.html . The timeperiod of these quotes would be scary for anyone of this time to experience because the world has changed. I learned how lucky I am to not have to go to work young, and recieve numerous diseases. This prodject enlightened me to see that maybe homework is not so bad. I know that I would rather do it than work in a factory during the depression.
I learned a lot from these interviews. After hearing all of them, I came to the conclusion that the great depression was a very hard time to be living in. For example, according to the interview of Man at Eddie's bar, he says that in the cities, people were being cheated out of what they have. This made me realize that people did not have much money during this time, and how people in the stores would have to cheat people out of their money, so they would not be poor. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/manbar.html. Also, Mr. Garavelli says that many stonecutters died from the silica they worked with. He referres to the silica as a knife in your chest. This is sad to me because no one should die from something they work with, and also showed me that conditions at work were bad. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/garavel.html. I also learned from the Jim Cole interview that during the great depression, there was a lot of discrimination against African Americans and would not let these people have certain jobs they wanted. This is not good, and made me learn that people were very prejudice during this time. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/jimcole.html. Finally, I learned from Chris Thorsten. He said that "You ain't an iron worker unless you get killed." This surprised me because it showed me how dangerous things were during the great depression. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/thorsten.html This is what I learned from the interviews.
These interviews told me a lot. I learned about life during the great depression, and that it was terrible. People that wanted to join unions were fired, and they had to devise clever ways to hand out information to each other. Irving Fajans http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/irving.html said that they would be fired if they were caught with any kind of union literature, and describes some ways they got around that. If you weren't about to get fired from your job, you were about to get killed by it. Many people died while working. Chris Thorsten http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/thorsten.html worked as an iron worker, and had a near death experience when he got pinned against a crane. He said that men died every day. Mr Garavelli http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/garavel.html was a stonecutter, and was exposed to silica every day. He said a lot of stonecutters died because of the dust, and that the new equipment is better, but still not perfect. I also learned that a lot women worked to support themselves like Alice Caudle http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/alice.html and Anna Novak http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/anna.html. The Great Depression affected everyone. It was hard to make a living and it wasn't fair. It was corrupt and racist. These interviews taught me how hard it was to live during the Great Depression.
I learned a lot from these interviews. The one that shocked me the most was Chris Thorsten http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/thorsten.html. He said that "you ain't an iron worker unless you get killed." His bleak honesty was really sad. I felt that really represented the mood of that time period. Everything was dangerous. Things were really corrupt then, too. According to Anna Novak, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/anna.html, all the workers were expected to bring in presents for the people in charge every holiday if they wanted to keep their jobs. Bosses also hated unionizing and did everything they could to stop it, says Ivring Fajans http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/irving.html.The Great Depression was a horrible time to live in.
These interveiws brought you back in time to a world much alien to the 21st century. The people who were interveiwed spoke of corrupt factory owners, and no safety devices. These people's life stories would never occur today because of the laws created because of pioneers like Irving Fajans who supported the union group for Macy's and helped to recruit members under the radar of his bosses http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/irving.html . Even though the unions helped many workers get their rights they would not help Jim Cole who was African American. The unions did as much good as they did bad, by not accepting other races http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/jimcole.html . I was happy to read the excerpt from Man at Colonial park. He stated that even though rich men had all of the money it didn't effect that everyone shared the same air, earth, and sky. The man understood that they were rich but that did not mean that they were gods http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/manpark.html . The timeperiod of these quotes would be scary for anyone of this time to experience because the world has changed. I learned how lucky I am to not have to go to work young, and recieve numerous diseases. This prodject enlightened me to see that maybe homework is not so bad. I know that I would rather do it than work in a factory during the depression.
I learned a lot from these interviews. After hearing all of them, I came to the conclusion that the great depression was a very hard time to be living in. For example, according to the interview of Man at Eddie's bar, he says that in the cities, people were being cheated out of what they have. This made me realize that people did not have much money during this time, and how people in the stores would have to cheat people out of their money, so they would not be poor. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/manbar.html. Also, Mr. Garavelli says that many stonecutters died from the silica they worked with. He referres to the silica as a knife in your chest. This is sad to me because no one should die from something they work with, and also showed me that conditions at work were bad. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/garavel.html. I also learned from the Jim Cole interview that during the great depression, there was a lot of discrimination against African Americans and would not let these people have certain jobs they wanted. This is not good, and made me learn that people were very prejudice during this time. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/jimcole.html. Finally, I learned from Chris Thorsten. He said that "You ain't an iron worker unless you get killed." This surprised me because it showed me how dangerous things were during the great depression. http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/thorsten.html This is what I learned from the interviews.
These interviews told me a lot. I learned about life during the great depression, and that it was terrible. People that wanted to join unions were fired, and they had to devise clever ways to hand out information to each other. Irving Fajans http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/irving.html said that they would be fired if they were caught with any kind of union literature, and describes some ways they got around that. If you weren't about to get fired from your job, you were about to get killed by it. Many people died while working. Chris Thorsten http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/thorsten.html worked as an iron worker, and had a near death experience when he got pinned against a crane. He said that men died every day. Mr Garavelli http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/garavel.html was a stonecutter, and was exposed to silica every day. He said a lot of stonecutters died because of the dust, and that the new equipment is better, but still not perfect. I also learned that a lot women worked to support themselves like Alice Caudle http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/alice.html and Anna Novak http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/wpaintro/anna.html. The Great Depression affected everyone. It was hard to make a living and it wasn't fair. It was corrupt and racist. These interviews taught me how hard it was to live during the Great Depression.